It’s going to be a big year

A little over a year ago, I was able to quit smoking. On my own, I went from smoking 5-10 cigs a day to only smoking 2-3 on the weekends. I was proud of myself, but couldn’t quit successfully all the way, so I talked to my doctor (I’m very lucky to have insurance) and she put me on Wellbutrin. It helped me quit for good. This timer re-started many times, I’m so excited to have made it past the one year mark. My big life lesson in 2022 was that is okay to ask for help.

This year, I’m going to quit drinking. It doesn’t consume my life, but it’s not benefiting it either.

My other New Year’s resolutions:

-stress free in ‘23, don’t sweat the small stuff
-stay hydrated
-get veneers for front two teeth (I have bonding currently, discolored from years of smoking)
-move back home to Michigan, (which also includes: get new job, find a house with a yard for the pup, this is a big scary resolution)
-learn from grandma how to make stained glass
-don’t isolate
-go camping, be in nature often
-don’t buy from Amazon and don’t buy Nestle products
-let go of past bitterness

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Real change is hard, y’all. One study suggests that it takes an average of 66 days to make a new habit automatic, with some habits taking more than 250 days. The neurological process of learning is like carving a new path in our brains.

The journey (the metaphor being, that building new neural pathways is like building a trail in the woods):

-Planning, deciding where and how to put the trail
-Cutting, digging out the trail and clearing the path
-Operating, opening it up and letting wear and tear take over
-Maintaining, repairing damage and removing new obstacles

These stages have one thing in common: each takes hard, sometimes tiring, often fulfilling work. It should be slow, it should be deliberate, but it should also be rewarding. If it’s back-breaking and exhausting, take a step back and dial it down. If it’s easy and boring, lean in and dial it up.

Summary from article about change I pasted the above from: https://medium.com/mind-cafe/dont-be-so-hard-on-yourself-personal-growth-is-tough-c644fac0f648

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If you are committing to personal growth in this new year, know that I’m proud of you! You’re doing a hard thing. If you fail, it’s okay! Failure is proof you’re trying. You have the opportunity to try again. “Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.”

Happy New Year fam.

Dog tax, Coop on a trail with me in AZ.